Inside Review

By Nate Lakritz
9 years Ago

Congratulations Playdead, you’ve done it again&period; Following the universal success of their first independent title, Limbo, Playdead ApS has somehow exceeded high expectations with their newest game, Inside&period; It adds onto all the gameplay elements that made Limbo so great, and tells a mind-boggling story that may very well be set in the same universe&period; The level of creativity expressed within Inside simply makes it a must-play for anyone looking to experience a phenomenal work of art&period;&NewLine;From the opening of Inside to its final moments, there is a level of depth absent from most platformers&period; The entire world feels alive with features such as dynamic weather, layered sound, strategic lighting, and pinpoint movements based on real-world physics&period; It can even make a case for demonstrating the best water physics of all time&period; Some components may go unnoticed, but undoubtedly all contribute to the overall scheme of things&period; At certain times, it’s eye-opening to sit back and appreciate a certain scene from Inside&period; The best word to describe movement is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;fluid”, but don’t be mistaken, as nothing is a rag-doll&period; From climbing ladders to rolling down hills, all actions seem too realistic to be part of a game&period; To be more precise, every movement feels like you’re controlling an actual human&period;&NewLine;<figure id="attachment&lowbar;109813" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109813" style="width&colon; 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="wp-image-109813 size-full" src="https&colon;//cdn&period;bagogames&period;com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/03125522/INSIDE&lowbar;03&period;png" alt="Inside 1" width="1920" height="1080" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109813" class="wp-caption-text">(Inside, Microsoft Studios)</figcaption></figure>&NewLine;Now, a great atmosphere needs to be accompanied with a great story, right&quest; Well, Inside’s story is fitting to say the least&period; It tells the tale of a strange boy, with an unknown mission in a dystopian world filled with enemies&period; Although somewhat of a mystery from beginning to end, the storyline just feels right&period; There are certain points of insanity, and other periods of peace and serenity&period; Unfortunately, the game’s ending is its weakest point, if not its only weak point&period; Tons of build-up for a rather anticlimatic conclusion isn’t any more a blunder than a style&period; Luckily, the moments of shock and suspense throughout the game as a whole more than make up for the overly symbolic ending&period;&NewLine;The puzzles themselves are not too difficult with a well-paced progression&period; While some ideas are recycled from Limbo, others are unique&period; Lighting and shadows happen to play a critical role in puzzle-solving, along with water and gravity&period; I feel like what was novel should have been used more, just to keep everything fresh for all audiences&period; A large portion of level design was atypical from other platformers&period; For example, you’ll often need to walk left to progress, rather than right, in some areas&period; The game also tempts you to press a certain dangerous button or make an impossible jump in certain situations&period; For this reason, you will undoubtedly die in your first playthrough&period; Also, deaths are absolutely brutal, which adds a horror element to the bleak world of Inside&period;&NewLine;Since the game primarily takes place in an abandoned industrial world, it’s a prime spot for some anxiety and tension&period; I felt considerable anticipation in an early scene where you are being chased by a rabid dog&period; The enemy starts off as a tiny dot in the background, quickly increasing in size and moving into the foreground&period; It’s barking becomes louder and more vicious as it approaches, keeping you frozen in your seat&period; If it happens to grab you, the dog will tear you to pieces&period; In just these five seconds, Inside is able to immediately immerse you in its gameplay&period; Being alone in a creepy place naturally primes you for some scares, but can’t do anything to prepare you for some of Inside’s craziest moments&period; Also, the lack of any dialogue whatsoever lets you freely interpret the majority of the game’s strange scenarios for yourself&period; In many ways, Inside is disturbing, albeit amazing&period;&NewLine;<figure id="attachment&lowbar;109814" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109814" style="width&colon; 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="wp-image-109814 size-full" src="https&colon;//cdn&period;bagogames&period;com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/03125459/INSIDE&lowbar;07&period;png" alt="Inside 2" width="1920" height="1080" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109814" class="wp-caption-text">(Inside, Microsoft Studios)</figcaption></figure>&NewLine;Many chase sequences require a high level of accuracy to progress&period; The game isn’t very forgiving, but nothing ever becomes too difficult&period; As long as you know the proper solution to the puzzle, it should be a piece of cake after two or three initial attempts to get a feel for the area&period; Adding to the realism, your character has no way to fight his enemies, who are always much stronger than him&period; You spend most of your time running away and hiding, until a certain point&period; I won’t spoil anything specific or major, but gameplay does change significantly for the latter parts of the game&period;&NewLine;As you can probably tell by this point, Inside is worth a purchase, and it will surely win countless awards this year&period; It’s the type of game that will spur fan-theories and tons of clever discussion over the coming weeks&period; Its story may be a mystery, but encountering flawless gameplay is certain&period; With hardly anything to complain about, Inside provides an atmospheric puzzler not many could have dreamt up&period;&NewLine;<hr />&NewLine;A PC review code was provided by Playdead and Microsoft Studios for the purpose of this review&NewLine;

Categories: Game Reviews, PC Reviews
Tags: 2D Platformer Inside Microsoft PC Playdead Top Stories Xbox

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